1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to applicators for applying dental floss to the teeth of a user. More specifically, it pertains to dental floss applicators of the type having a pair of resilient, slotted prongs for use with dental floss having nodules fixed thereto at intervals, such that the nodules can be used for retaining the floss in the slots of the prongs; and especially to such applicators adapted for use with apparatus of the type described herein, and in the first related application cited above, for loading dental floss into the prongs of the applicator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dental floss having nodules fixed thereto at intervals is known in the prior art, as are applicators having resilient, slotted prongs for holding the floss by bearing outwardly against two adjacent nodules on the floss. Examples of such systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,815,408 "Dental Floss Holder" to J. K. Jordan, and 3,631,869 "Dental Floss Holder" to R. J. Espinosa. A similar device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,687 "Dental Flossing Device" to L. G. Lorch. In this patent, the flossing material is made in short segments, each of which has a small, circular grommet that fits over a knob at the end of each prong of the applicator. German Pat. No. 1095460 to Gustav Frantz is also somewhat similar to the first two patents cited above. However, in this patent, tension on a segment of floss is achieved by a collar surrounding both prongs at a point at which they are disposed at and angle to one another, so that, by sliding the collar along the prongs, they can be positioned at a desired distance from one another.
Other U.S. Patents, known to the applicant, that show dental-floss holders, but which are fairly unrelated to the present invention are: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,253,477; 3,828,804; 2,702,555; 3,974,842; and 4,052,994.
None of the applicators taught in these prior-art patents have the appropriate configuration to function successfully in cooperation with a preferred embodiment of the floss-loading device of the cited, related patent application.
This device essentially comprises two elongated, juxtaposed, convergent surfaces fixed perpendicular to a third surface. The floss is supported in a slot in each convergent surface, so that it extends from one surface to the other at a point where the distance between the surfaces is less that the distance between nodules on the floss. The convergent surfaces are equipped, at their upper edges, with inwardly-extending lips between their divergent ends and the slots for retention of the prongs of the applicator, and means near the convergent end of the convergent surfaces for automatically ejecting the prongs of the applicator when they have been loaded with floss. The user places the prongs of the applicator between the divergent ends of the convergent surfaces and moves them toward the floss until it is grasped in the slots of the prongs. The prongs are then freed from between the convergent surfaces and ejected therefrom by upwardly-divergent surfaces between the slots and the convergent ends of the otherwise convergent surfaces. Neither of the embodiments taught in the patent to Jordan would be freed from the lips on the convergent surfaces of the loading device after the floss has been grasped in the slots of the applicator. Also, the first embodiment could not function with the ejection means of the floss-loading device; and the second embodiment does not have the slots in its prongs oriented properly for grasping the floss supported in the convergent surfaces. For similar reasons, the applicators taught in the Patents to Espinosa and Frantz would not function in cooperation with the cited floss-loading device.